Saturday, February 9, 2013

re: HAVE YOU FILLED OUT YOUR I.R.S. FORM YET???:Believe it or not, it's IRS Time again! Our FH Buddy Rich Appel is putting together a brand new list of songs selected by YOU that YOU feel really should have been Top Ten Hits. (I.R.S. ... as in It Really Shoulda ... been a Top 10 Hit ... get it?!?!?)Our Forgotten Hits Readers have ALWAYS responded really well to this survey ... and this is now the SIXTH anniversary of Rich's countdown.

Hop on over to his website via the link(s) provided below and cast your votes ... and then watch these pages for the final results. (kk)

I.R.S. –NOW WE ARE SIXLess tax-ing, more fun. That’s Hz So Good’s 6th annual I.R.S., as in “It Really Shoulda” been a Top 10 hit.Help build this year’s Top 104. Here’s how to file your “I.R.S. form”:Put together your list of songs that make you say "THAT really shoulda been a top 10 hit!" Any song that didn’t reach the Top 10 in the U.S. is fair game, whether or not it was ever on any chart, ever released as a single, or ever released in the U.S. It doesn't matter if you don't know (or care) whether songs were Top 10 or not. We'll take care of all corrections.Send as few songs as you’d like, or as many, up to 100. We know some of you can come up with more, but please limit your list to 100 songs.Unless you specify otherwise, lists are assumed to be in rank order, with your favorite/most deserving listed first.Make sure to list the title AND artist for every song. And please, in that order, title followed by artist.Since this is a ranking of songs, do not list two sides of a single as one entry.Likewise, do not list two or more versions of the same song as one entry.Send your completed list, along with your full name and complete mailing address, to IRS104@verizon.net. The absolute deadline for all “I.R.S. forms” is 11:59:59pm Eastern time, April 1st – April Fool’s Day - 2013.Random I.R.S. filers will receive “refunds” in the form of either merchandise from RadioLogoLand or 4-disc sets of the I.R.S. Top 104! And for the first time this year, everyone filing an I.R.S. form receives a free one-year membership to HardToFindMusicAndMovies.com, including a 20% discount off non-sale items. Remember to include your full name and complete mailing address in your email to be eligible for any of these prizes.Over the weekend leading up to this year’s other IRS deadline (Friday April 12 to Sunday April 14), we’ll count down the 6th annual I.R.S. Top 104 on a radio or computer near you (and in Hz So Good) and draw winners – details soon. If we’re not already connected, friend me on Facebook (richappel7) or follow me on Twitter (@RestOfTheWeek) for regular updates.So, let the 6th annual I.R.S. begin. Preparers are standing by.H&Z ROCK ... a division of HzSoGood

re: THE BEATLES:

See, even my COUSIN knows I'm oldies music crazy!!! (And she got to go SEE The Beatles back in 1965!!! In fact, it was with her family that I was supposed to go ... they had an extra ticket for me ... but my dad didn't want to drive all the way back the next day to pick me up so he put the kabosh on my one and only chance to ever see The Fab Four live!!!) kkHi Dear Cousin Kent!Thought you'd enjoy this, from Garrison Keillor's the Writer's Almanac. Love,AmyOn this day in 1964, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, as teenage girls screamed hysterically in the audience and 73 million people watched from home — a record for American television at the time. Their appearance on the show is considered the beginning of the "British Invasion" of music in the United States. The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show the following two Sundays in a row, as well. On this first time, exactly 49 years ago today, they sang "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and finally "I Want to Hold Your Hand" — which had just hit No. 1 on the charts.

They come from Kenny's brand new autobiography, "Luck Or Something Like It", which we'll be reviewing on the website tomorrow. In fact, we'll be saluting Kenny Rogers (from his First Edition days) on The Forgotten Hits Website all of next week ... so you'll definitely want to stop back and check that out! (kk)

Philip Bardowell talks about Carl Wilson, Mike Love, John Stamos, the spiritual nature of Beach Boys music, his journey into faith, and his new music video and album.

We saw Philip a couple of years ago when he was performing as part of The Surf City All-Stars, backing up Dean Torrence in concert ... GREAT show. (In fact, Bob Greene was on hand that night, too!)kk

Thanks for the Rick Stevens article. I've been a Tower of Power fanatic since the Bump City album, which is the album he sang on. I knew that he had major troubles in his life when he left the band, but never heard the whole story, and always wondered if he was even still alive. He had a great soulful voice. If you ever get a chance to see the Tower of Power live, do it. Even after 44 years they are incredible live performers.Bill in MN.

Turned off WCBS-FM, turned on Eric Burdon = "'Til Your River Runs Dry"
I say Eric Burdon's new album lived up to expectations.
First time I played it, without reading Eric's explanations ... second time I played it, reading Eric's explanations of each cut.
My favorite cuts:

If I remember correctly, they released "Memorial Day" last year to give us a sneak peek at the new CD. I'm pretty sure I was at the Animals first appearance in New York. It was at the New York Paramont . They were just one act on a Rock-n-Roll Show. They had that brash, in your face attitude. Didn't like them that first time. After listening to their music, they became one of my favorites.

Let me know what you think after you listen to it.
Frank B.

My copy came yesterday ... stuck it in the car to listen to on the way to work on Monday. I'll let you know what I think ... but I'm anxious to hear it ... pretty good buzz all around on this one! (kk)

Outspoken columnist Bob Lefsetz (he's an acquired taste) has just put together a piece that TOTALLY fits here in Forgotten Hits ... a flashback, if you will, of This Week in 1968 ... right up our alley.

Here are some of Bob's memories of The Top Ten that week:

10. "I Wish It Would Rain" The Temptations -

I always think of the Faces version, from"Coast to Coat: Overture and Beginners," an eminently forgettable live album. But that's just how big a Rod Stewart fan I was, I had to have everything he put out. This is from Anaheim, back in '73. I saw the band in Anaheim, a stadium show, in '75. Opener was Fleetwood Mac, riding the initial success of the "White Album" with Buckingham and Nicks. I loved hearing "Over My Head," but the audience was not enthusiastic, they were barely paying attention. There was a riot in the infield after Loggins & Messina, all to the soundtrack of Bruce Springsteen's "Spirit In The Night, " and this was before "Born To Run" made him a star, I seemed to be the only bloke who knew the track. And the string section for the Faces never arrived, and Rod couldn't stop expressing his regret, but by that time we were hungover anyway.
But the Temptations' take is definitive.

9. "Goin' Out Of My Head / Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Medley)" The Lettermen
Nearly sacrilegious.
The definitive versions were done by Little Anthony & the Imperials and Frankie Valli. Both done within half a decade, the Frankie Valli track was a hit only the year before!
Meanwhile, the most famous Lettermen take is a live one. Which has enough magic to be a hit. I just can't remember whether the live take was the one on the radio! I think it was! (And Web research is not definitive!)
"Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" is not Valli's best work. For that, go to his classic early sixties stuff with the Four Seasons. But the Little Anthony vocal on "Goin' Out Of My Head" will blow your mind. It's as if Little Lupe sang (that's a Howard Stern reference, in case you're scratching your head.) He sings like he means it, like it's the most important thing in the world.

8. "Nobody But Me" The Human Beinz
A one hit wonder which captured the zeitgeist, a cross between psychedelia and garage that was instantly addicting and we all sang along with.
Play this with a baby boomer in sight and you'll be shocked as he or she starts to shimmy and sing every note.
Nobody can do the SHING-A-LING!
No, no, no...
Pure magic.

7. "Love Is Blue"
We sat through everything on the AM radio waiting for the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion. As a result, I know every lick of Louis Armstrong's "Hello Dolly" and this too. But unlike Louis's hit, I LOVE "Love Is Blue." It sets your mind adrift, it's life itself. We're all individuals, our intersection with others is tenuous at best. Funny how we can connect with music more than people. This song plays and it's like I'm disconnected from my present environment and hooked into one removed, yet more real.

6. "Woman, Woman" The Union Gap
The first hit, but not the best. Tolerable, but schmaltzy. But what came next ... YOUNG GIRL! An utterly fantastic concoction that they opened their show with at Fordham University and closed it with too. It had just been released. This was in March '68. We went to see the headliner, Arlo Guthrie, do one of his three versions of "Alice's Restaurant." But we stood on our chairs and sang along with "Young Girl," it's just that good.

5. "Bend Me, Shape Me" The American Breed
My favorite song on this playlist. I first heard it on the jukebox in the Bromley base lodge, I had to buy the single, and by this point I only bought albums.
There was just something about the sound. I played it incessantly, to the point where my father, who was anything but a fan of rock, would sing it with a smile on his face to tease me.
It's the way the singer almost whispers, sings nearly sotto voce. And then there's a bridge with balls that leads to the exuberant chorus...and then the drums start to beat, the horns start to wail, the hands start to clap and we're back in the verse, we're doing it all over again.
To think such magic could be encapsulated in barely two minutes.
My memories are embedded and triggered by this.

4. "Spooky" Classics IV
And if you want to lose some time online, you can research the intersection between this original hit version and the one done years later by the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Still, this is the definitive take. It's the pauses that hook you, but then there's the vocal, everybody was such a stylist back then. But how can I not mention that guitar riff and the sax solo? This is the soundtrack to house parties in the basement, where you first kissed and danced close.

3. "Chain Of Fools" Aretha Franklin
"Respect" gets all the kudos, but I prefer this. Because of the intro, which most people would eliminate, and the groove, like rocking in a boat. You just can't help but have your body move. And Aretha dances atop the track in a way that blows your mind without showing off.
Give Jerry Wexler props.
And to this day, Aretha knocks it out of the park. When I saw her a few years back, "Chain Of Fools" was the highlight of the show.

2. "Judy In Disguise (with Glasses)" John Fred & His Playboy Band
Also on that Bromley jukebox. My sister bought the single and I came to love it by osmosis.
Yes, we all had our own record players. You know, those cheap boxes with the lift top. We all had our own records. And we didn't swap them. But we heard them coming out of each other's rooms.
This was one of those songs where the lyrics were debated.
Was he singing "kite," or was he being anti-Semitic?
There was never another John Fred hit, but after fading, this became an oldies staple.

1. "Green Tambourine" The Lemon Pipers
Even though there was no Internet, no cell phones, music moved faster in '68 than it does today. Songs didn't last as long on the chart. Influences were consumed and spit out fast. Even though the Beatles had only broken in '64, psychedelia had penetrated the hipster circuits and we ended up with "Green Tambourine," a bizarre concoction of underground and mainstream, of psychedelia and bubble gum.
Yes, if you just listen to the instrumentation, the track seems almost cutting edge. But then you listen to the lyrics...
Still, the sounds are so entrancing.
And it was cowritten and produced by Paul Leka, from Bridgeport, the city next to the suburb I grew up in, Fairfield!
But we didn't know that back then.
Trivia has come to the fore as a result of the Internet.
But back then, we only had the radio.
And these were the hits forty five years ago.
Seems like yesterday.

That's a pretty good Top Ten ... you still hear most of these songs today (although probably the two you hear the least are both #1 Records ... "Green Tambourine" and "Love Is Blue". "Judy In Disguise" also topped the charts ... as did "Bend Me, Shape Me" in some circles. (Especially here in Chicago!)I had the exact opposite reaction to "Chain Of Fools" when it came out ... HATED it when I first heard it (and turned it off for many years afterwards.) Then I saw the John Travolta film "Michael" and watched Travolta dance during the bar scene to this song ... and I have LOVED it ever since. (Only took me thirty years to catch up to everybody else!!! lol) Funny how music works that way ... the timing just wasn't right for me in '68 ... but in the '90's it totally hit home for me. (kk)

re: HELPING OUT OUR READERS:Kent,

This is a bit unusual but I am asking for prayer for Dartmouth, MA. They have 90% power loss and with downed lines, they can't rescue people. My son, daughter-in-law and 2 month old grand-daughter are there and getting cold. Thank you.

Shelley

Yeah, a bit ... but if you believe that there's power in numbers, I'm happy to give it a shot. The East Coast just seems to be getting continuously hammered with bad weather ... we have a lot of readers out that way, some of whom still haven't been able to return to their homes since Super Storm Sandy ... so if the power of prayer can help, I'm all for it. (kk)

>>>CAN HOPE YOU CAN HELP. I'M LOOKING FOR "OUT IN THE COLD AGAIN" BY THE DOVELS (LEN BARRY). DO YOU KNOW IF THIS IS AVAILABLE ON I-TUNES? (TAGGY21)

Hi Kent,

Regarding The Dovells, their song “Out In The Cold Again” originally appeared on their LP, “All The Hits Of The Teen Groups”. It was one of a series of “All The Hits” LPs issued by Cameo - Parkway artists in the early 60s. All Cameo - Parkway material was very late in coming to CD, so there were many issues originating in Europe that met the needs of those looking for such recordings. One of these was a 64 track double CD from the Dovells entitled "All Their Hits And Much More”. “Out In The Cold Again” is there, as is just about everything else they cut for Parkway, including Len Barry’s “Hearts Are Trump”. The quality is excellent but the set could set you back around $45 or so.

For those wanting the Dovells hits, their “Best of 1961 - 1965” CD, issued by Abkco in 2005, as part of their official launch of the Cameo-Parkway catalog, is a great buy at around $6 used.

Best regards,

Mike Edwards

re: TODAY'SFORGOTTEN HIT:Kent,
You were right about what you said about Friday's FH by Hayley Mills. It was also very popular with a guy by the name of JOHNNY JINGO.
Larry

>>>I just about fell out of my chair the other day when I heard a co-worker singing this one!!! (There can't be six people in this entire company that would know it ... talk about obscure!) But it was a #1 Hit here in Chicago ... and peaked at #5 nationally in 1961. Here's Hayley Mills (and Hayley Mills) singing "Let's Get Together" ... from the ORIGINAL pre-Lindsay Lohan motion picture version of "The Parent Trap"!!! (kk)Now that's a good one! LOL!

I'd like to know if anyone from the over 60 crowd cannot remember this song. Hayley Mills was to all young boys what Marilyn Monroe was to all the adult men of the day. Me and my crew had a clubhouse and, displayed on one of the walls, was a photo of Hayley torn out of some teen mag. Everybody I knew bought that 45 because of her. By the way, I can't forget to mention that next to Hayley's photo was our prized possession, a photo of Annette with two scud missiles and mouse ears. It really seems blasphemous that it is necessary to even mention Lindsay Lohan, but the younger groups have to have a basis for connection. After the Parent Trap, Hayley's next movie was Tiger Bay, and me and all my hoodlum buddies were at the first day of the opening. Yeah, I remember ... thanks for the memory. Still laughing!Alex Valdez

Irishman Gilbert O'Sullivan scored six straight National Top 40 Hits in a two year period back in the early '70's. The biggest and most popular of these was his US chart debut "Alone Again (Naturally", which topped Billboard's Pop Singles Chart for six straight weeks in 1972.He followed that up with the #2 Hit "Clair"... and then hit The Top Ten one more time in 1973 with "Get Down", a record that peaked at #7 on the Billboard Chart but went all the way to #1 here in Chicago.(It fared a little better on both the Cash Box and Record World charts, where it peaked at #4.)

Other Top 40 Hits included "Out Of The Question" (#17, 1973, and one of my favorites); "Ooh Baby" (#11, 1973) and "Happiness Is Me And You" (#34, 1974) ... yet you rarely if ever hear any of Gilbert's music on the radio anymore today.

We've got a Sunday Salute Two-Fer for you today ... jocks on the list would do themselves well to feature at least one of these on their programs next week ... your audience will be pleased that you did! (Radio may have forgotten most of the Top 20 Hits ... but WE haven't!!!And neither have your listeners!) kk

re: WHY YOU NEED TO READ FORGOTTEN HITS EVERY DAY:Kent ...Check this one out. Possible clip of the week.Frank B.You've Got To See This! Amazing!For those of you that are old enough to remember him (Yes! I mean you ... or most of you) ... Little Richard!!!You have to see this! Watch how he uses his fists and elbows and doesn't even look at the keys when he sings! This is amazing to see.It's Richard Wayne Penniman (aka Little Richard) about fifteen years before "Tutti Frutti, Oh, Rudy ...

A - whop bop - a - lu - bop, a - whop bam boom.

Here is some very rare footage of "Little Richard" as a child, when he was just starting out in the music biz' ... from a movie with Van Johnson ...

http://www.wimp.com/oldschool /Great clip ... except it's NOT Little Richard! This one has come up a few times now over the years ... I think the first time I got it, they said the kid was Billy Preston! But it's actually "Sugar Chile" Robinson ... and if you read Forgotten Hits every day, you'd know that we've already set the world straight on this one a few times now! (kk)Great piece of footage ... but it's not Little Richard. It's Frankie "Sugar Chile" Robinson. This misidentification makes the Internet rounds every couple of years.Cheers,David

OK, THIS one goes back awhile!!!Last year, Skip Haynes (of Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah) gave usan EXCLUSIVE "Story Behind The Song" feature for their cult classic hit "Lake Shore Drive". In it, he mentioned a couple of guys who were instrumental in helping to get the record made ... namely Stu Black and Joe Golan. Then TODAY we got a letter from a guy who just happens to have ties to BOTH of these guys. I guess he was surfing the net and came across our article ... and then dropped me a line to check in.Quite honestly, we never know WHO we're going to hear from ... new folks are discovering Forgotten Hits every single day. (The other day I was looking for some information about Wayne Cochran's C.C. Riders, googled it and was referred to four of my own articles on the topic!!! lol I just LOVE it when that happens!!!)Anyway, here's his note ... along with a link to the original article, just in case you missed it! (kk)Saw your post the other day.

You might be amused by some nostalgia.

I was Stu Black's boss at Sound Studios in the mid 60s. I was a partner in
the ownership of that studio. He had been at Chess but had a falling out and
came to work for us. SS was in the Carbide Building, now called THE HARD ROCK
HOTEL, on north Michigan Ave.

I left SS in the late 60s and went to work for WFMT as broadcast engineer
and recording - producer. I was engineering producer for the ChicagoSymphony Orchestra for over 20
years (also Lyric Opera) and engineered a Grammy award album with CSO in 1992
when I was nominated for Grammy.

In memory of Reg Presley -- and the Chip Taylor classic, "Wild Thing" -- here's a parody mimicking Robert F. Kennedy. I don't recall anyone mentioning this one.Fred VailClick here: Wild Thing RFK - YouTubeActually ... WE did ... in fact, we included the clip in our salute to Presley the day after he died!(See ... that's why you've got to read Forgotten Hits every single day!!!) lol (kk)Click here: Forgotten Hits: Forgotten Hits Remembers Reg PresleyOne of the most memorable things I remember about listening to Top 40 radio back in the late 50's and early 60's was that they would play parodies such as this, along other comedy recordings.How many of you remember the Stan Freberg classic, ''Green Chri$tma$,'' (also ''Banana Boat'' and ''The Great Pretender''), or monologs by Shelly Berman and Bob Newhart, among others.As I've said in previous pieces, you could get a complete musical education (and appreciation) by listening to Top 40 on your transistor: jazz, rock, country crossovers, blues, bluegrass, even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- who hit #13 -- and won a Grammy -- in 1959, for their recording of ''The Battle Hymn of the Republic."Fred / NashvillePS Stan Freberg is still alive and turns 87 this year. How many of you remember his commercials, especially the classic, "Marsha and John?" Maybe you can hook up with him and do an interview, Kent.Freberg was one of a kind, a very creative mind who always pushed the envelope a little bit. I love his "Banana Boat" parody ... and his take on "Heartbreak Hotel", too! (He had a hit with his version of "The Yellow Rose Of Texas" back in 1955, too!) Man, I'd LOVE to talk to him ... but wouldn't even know where to begin!!! (kk)

I asked FH Reader Gary Theroux (who wrote "The History Of Rock And Roll" radio special several years ago ... and is STILL producing great radio programming today, like last year's "Top 100 Greatest Christmas Hits Of All-Time" special that ran during the holiday season just past) if he had had any encounters with Stan Freberg during any of his worldly travels over the years ... and this is what he sent back:

When I worked at KIIS in the Playboy Building on Sunset Boulevard in the mid-'70s, Stan Freberg's office ("Freberg, Ltd. -- But Not Very") was only one then vacant lot away. I used to walk by his office all the time (the door held his distinctive seal, which was a picture of, well, a seal). I peered in a few times but never saw anyone in the place. I very much wanted to meet Stan but didn't want to just barge in uninvited so I never did get inside or met him.

Freberg's CBS program was network radio's last attempt to stage a comedy revue series on the same scale as had been done in the '30s and '40s. It was Stan's misfortune to come into his own as an audio comic just at the point when the pre-rock "golden age of radio" was just ending. Some of his broadcast material. however, was later transferred to vinyl and released on various Capitol albums. One of those best bits was Stan's explanation of the "theatre of the mind" inherent in audio only entertainment such as radio, where vivid, imaginative pictures can be painted in your mind using only music, dialogue and sound effects. Stan's daughter asks, "But doesn't television stretch you imagination, too?" "Yes," replies Stan," but only up to 21 inches."

I've always loved Freberg's stuff and while some of it is dated now (due to his inclusion of long faded pop culture references), a lot of it isn't. To really get the humor in Freberg's satires it helps to know and understand what he was satirizing, be it "Dragnet," "The Honeymooners," Les Paul & Mary Ford, Harry Belafonte-styled calypso music, '50s television, doo-wop, etc. But there's certainly enough timeless Freberg material to make exploring his legacy worthwhile. Few audio comics went to as much trouble as Stan did to perfect his productions and his dedication shows. Rhino's box set of Freberg material is quite exhaustive and even includes examples of Stan's TV commercials, such as his famous Ann Miller tap-dancing-on-a-can spot and his attempts to promote prunes. Freberg even turns up momentarily in my all-time favorite movie, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad. Mad World." Sadly, though, he has no dialogue and is only seen in the background behind Andy Devine.

Among Stan's distinctions is the fact that he is one of only a handful of artists to have charted hits on music radio with TALKING records. He was hardly the first -- Cal Stewart and others were doing that about a century ago -- but Freberg's decidedly offbeat string of hit singles in the '50s were incredibly popular. After his parody of "Dragnet" featuring Daws Butler and June Foray became a smash in 1951, Stan followed it two years later with "Christmas Dragnet" (which was also issued as "Yulenet"). Both sides of "Christmas Dragnet" (Parts I and II) turn up in "The 100 Greatest Christmas Hits of All Time," the 10 hour radio countdown special I wrote and produced last year with Wink Martindale narrating.

Friday, February 8, 2013

re: SHINDIG: Kent --
I don't know if you've covered this before (there's so much Forgotten Hits now that I can't always drink from the fire hose and not lose a little!) but Shindig's "girl with big glasses" was Carole Shelyne, who also played Metron in the excellent original series Star Trek episode, "Arena." I saw both when they were first-run and I was a kid in Chicago, but I was in my 50s before I realized that they were the same actress.
For the Girl With Big Glasses, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc7Ump8s7pM
For Metron, see:

re: THE TROGGS: Kent,
Enjoyed very quickly before I went to work the song WITH A GIRL LIKE YOU. Later on tonight when I get home, I will read in it's entirety the comments you posted for Wednesday. Looks like I have some FANCY reading to do tonight.
Larry

Regional radio was fun wasn't it?In Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota, we didn't just hear Wild Thing, A Girl like You, and Love is All Around. We got to hear I Can't Control Myself, a personal favorite, along with Give It to Me, and You Can Cry if You Want To.Bill

re: THE HAPPENINGS: Your article about the Happenings and their Four Seasons sound reminded me of an interview I once did with Frankie Valli in which I asked him who he thought was the best Four Seasons sound-alike. Without any hesitation, Valli said it was the Happenings. I was in contact with their lead singer Bob Miranda at the time, and sent him a tape of that. Ed Salamon

re: ON THE RADIO:

At 8 PM on Friday night February 8th, I will be having three girls from New Jersey who proudly call themselves The New Dimensions. They sing the songs of the 50's and 60's and they will be doing them live on my show.

The Pop Shoppe can be found at www.oldiesyourway.com from 7 PM till 3:01 AM every Friday evening (eastern time).

Happy to pass it along. Who knows ... if the Saxonettes ever get THEIR act together, maybe THEY can be on your show some day!!! (kk)

re: MORE MONKEES NEWS: MIKE NESMITH OF THE MONKEES ANNOUNCES 2013 SOLO U.S. TOUR DATES
by Dave Swanson
After the huge success of last year’s Monkees tour, the usually reclusive Mike Nesmith has been recharged and is embarking on his own solo tour this spring. Nesmith took to Facebook to deliver this
information today (Jan. 28). The dates are listed below.
“This is the tour to break in the show,” he wrote. “See if you like it, earn the promoters confidence, and see if anybody comes. If it goes well we will keep going later in the summer / fall and hit the states we missed on this half-lap of the U.S. If it goes poorly we will stare blankly into the future and post pictures of cute animals and food.”
Two weeks ago, Nesmith teased his fans – also on Facebook – with the news of an upcoming solo tour in an amusing and offbeat post. “I thought the man and woman at the door might be from a religious group,” he wrote. “I was wrong. It was an easy mistake to make, it turns out they were from TIAPWWGAI (The International Association of People Who Wont Go Away) and I had been per-approved for membership. I found out later that acceptance in the club is automatic at a certain age. I wondered how they got my name and they said they heard I was going on tour in the U.S. this Spring.”
The band for this tour will consist of Nesmith on guitar, bassist Joe Chemay, Paul Leim on drums and Boh Cooper on keyboards. Rock on, Papa Nez!
Michael Nesmith 2013 Tour Dates:
3/21 – Nashville, Tenn.
3/24 – Los Angeles, Calif.
3/26 – Santa Cruz, Calif.
3/27 – San Francisco, Calif.
3/29 – Portland, Ore.
3/30 – Seattle, Wash.
4/3 – Boulder, Colo.
4/5 – Minneapolis, Minn.
4/6 – Chicago, Ill.
4/7 – Detroit, Mich.
4/9 – Munhall, Pa.
4/11 – Northampton, Mass.
4/12 – Rahway, N.J.
4/13 – Boston, Mass.
4/15- Philadelphia, Pa.
4/16 – New York, N.Y.
4/17 – Alexandria Va.http://ultimateclassicrock.com/mike-nesmith-of-the-monkees-2013-u-s-tour/ Over the years I have seen virtually every conceivable configuration of The Monkees ... together or apart ... countless solo shows by Micky, Davy and Peter ... Micky and Davy "Just Monkeeing Around" ... Micky and Davy as part of the Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart extravaganza ... "The Guys Who Sang 'Em and The Guys Who Wrote 'Em". Peter with Shoe Suede Blues (and even earlier than that doing a complete one-man solo shows) ... but I have NEVER seen Michael Nesmith. (Had a ticket to a show somewhere in Wrigleyville many years ago but, at the last minute, couldn't make it ... and missed out on the most recent "Tribute To Davy" Reunion Tour) ... so to see that he's coming back to Chicago one more time in April definitely whets my appetite ... it will most likely be my last chance EVER to catch The Nez in concert. More details to come ... but I'm truly hoping to make it to this one! (kk)

Just in case some of your readers might be interested (and like me, didn't notice earlier), Circus Boy is back on Antenna TV. It was dropped several months ago, but now it's back. (On Saturdays at this time.) Mark Carter A chance to see young Micky Braddock (with blonde hair!!!) Don't miss it! (kk)

Last weekend we told you about the up-coming Monkees Fan Convention, scheduled for March 1 - March 3 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Well, now comes news that Monkees.net will be broadcasting LIVE on the Internet so that fans unable to attend the show can still keep up with all of the festivities. More details below! (kk)

Additional big announcement from Monkees.Net!
This convention will be the first ever Monkees Convention to be streamed live to the internet on on Monkees.Net!
That's right - even if you can't make it to the show, you will still be able to attend and participate from your own home computer.
We will have a live video camera at our booth in the dealers room, and everyone who comes to our booth will be Live on Monkees.Net and can wave and say hi to the online fans who will be able to chat back to the dealers room.
We hope many of the celebrity guests will stop by our booth to greet the fans.
The live feed will cover all hours the dealers room is open and will be recorded for later viewing.
In addition we will be taking short video clips of some of the events at the show and uploading them for viewing online shortly after they happen so everyone can get a feel of the show and participate, even if
they can't make it in person!
So get your tickets now and meet us in person - but if that is not possible, login with the rest of the worldwide fans at Monkees.Net and join in the fun via the web! Get your tickets for the March 1-3, 2013 at The David T. Jones Memorial Monkees Convention, to be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, 2 Meadowlands Plaza, East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tickets on sale at: http://monkeeconvention.com/tickets.html.

re: OTHER UP-COMING AND RECENT SHOWS:

''The Golden Boys of Rock 'n' Roll,'' Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell, now have a bit of competition!

Fred

Oh, this has been going on for close to 20 years already!!! Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones used to switch off as one of The Teen Idols ... and we've also seen the show with Peter Noone, Mark Lindsay, Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy ... just Teen Idols of a different generation is all ... but always a very entertaining show. Watch for appearances coming soon to your area!

(This reminds me of the '70's Teen Idols Series we did in Forgotten Hits several years ago ... we asked our female readers to write in and tell us whose posters they had on their bedroom walls way back when ... and who made YOUR panties damp back in the day!!! Got a good response actually ... and ended up doing profiles on David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Andy Gibb, The Hudson Brothers, John Travolta and several others. Maybe it's time to rerun THAT one on the website!!!) kk

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AL KOOPER
69th Birthday Show

Thursday, February 7, 8:00PM

Friday, February 8, 8:00PM

Al Kooper once again returns to B.B. King Blues Club to celebrate his birthday in grand fashion. A legendary keyboardist, songwriter, and producer, Kooper appeared on Bob Dylan's classic albums Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), and he produced New Morning for Dylan in 1970. He also toured as a member of Dylan's band off and on over the years. He was a member of the influential group The Blues Project from 1965 to 1967, and he formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1967, remaining with the group for its debut album Child Is Father to the Man (1968). Kooper was also the principal songwriter for both bands. As if all of that weren't enough, he also appeared on and produced 1968's platinum Super Session album with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills.

For the first time in 44 years, Moving Sidewalks, seminal Texas psychedelic rockers, noted for their garage rock evergreen "99th Floor," are back together. The original Sidewalks lineup -- Tom Moore, Don Summers, Dan Mitchell and Billy F Gibbons -- are intensively rehearsing in preparation for their forthcoming appearance at Cavestomp!, the 'Garage Festacular', set for B.B. King's Club in New York on Saturday, March 30.

The Moving Sidewalks date back to 1967 when The Coachmen, a Houston high school group, evolved into something beyond the cover band they had been, fine-tuning their line up and repertoire. The Moving Sidewalks were one of the first local bands to embrace the psychedelic revolution in sound and, for a time, found national distribution. They were influenced by fellow Texans The 13th Floor Elevators and, most especially, by Jimi Hendrix. The fact that the band went on to share concert bills with Hendrix, as well as The Doors, Beau Brummels, Electric Prunes, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Music Machine, the Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart), Steppenwolf, John Mayall, Ten Years After and Stevie Wonder was testament to the level of acid-fueled professionalism they achieved in a very short time.

The Sidewalks' run got sidetracked when keyboard man Tom Moore and bassist Don Summers were borrowed for service in the US Army winding up in Viet Nam. After the term of service, Tom went back to college gaining a degree in Fine Arts and specialized as a machine designer, later rejoining forces with Sidewalks' drummer Dan Mitchell. The two moved to Los Angeles and formed a band called Buzz Bone attempting to leverage their brand of Texas blues rock in a world then enthralled by disco.

After his Buzz Bone sojourn in California with Moore, Dan Mitchell returned to Texas where he was involved in numerous pursuits including a Houston haberdashery called "Mr. Fantasy," the first store in the region where one could buy bell bottoms and other rock star-related clothes, "imported" from London, Los Angeles and New York. He later joined Gulf Coast Sound and Lighting where he became a monitor engineer working with such bands as the Neville Brothers and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mitchell also started Backline Musical Instruments where his clients included Ray Charles and the Beach Boys.

Don Summers, the band's bassist also wound up in Viet Nam and, later, Thailand. Summers joined the staff Roadway Express, a national trucking company where, for more than 35 years he handed customer service for such accounts as American Airlines and Mattel. Don also remained connected to music over the years building guitars and basses of his own design including one played by The Who's John Entwistle in the film Tommy. He also designed the mechanism that enabled the guitar and bass to spin in the ZZ Top video for "Legs."

Speaking of ZZ Top. That's where Moving Sidewalks guitarist Billy Gibbons alighted, post-Sidewalks. Gibbons, over the course of the next 43 years, along with ZZ Top bandmates Dusty Hill and Frank Beach became a true icon of rock and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. ZZ Top is recognized as the longest running band in rock, 100% intact with the same personnel for the longest run that continues to this day.

The fact that the Movings Sidewalks are back at it again surely ranks as one of the most unusual reconnections in history. The keyboard man, the bass player, and, the drummer are dedicated psyche and blues-rock enthusiasts and the guitarist is acknowledged as one of the most brilliant, celebrated musicians in history, not to mention frontman for a band that has been at the pinnacle of rock's pantheon for an unprecedented tenure.

It's not a joke but after 44 years, they'll be walking into a bar: B.B. King's in New York on March 30th. Tickets: http://bit.ly/VrTsYv

-- submitted by Bob Merlis

re: THIS AND THAT: I had always assumed, from day one, people on your site were just having some fun with Leo's claims knowing full well he was full of it. He must have presented a pretty good story! You continue cracking me up with your comments. I'm like you ... I don't believe anyone has the right to change music history. Sid Holmes Leo's been telling stories for quite a few years from the sounds of things. Hey, I like a good work of fiction as much as the next guy ... but acknowledge it as fiction ... don't try to deceive people into giving you their money under false pretenses. (kk)

If you think “Hey Little One” was a dismal follow up to the monster hit "Last Kiss", try the follow-up to “In The Year 2525”, “Mr. Turnkey”!!. It makes "Hey Little One" look like a smashing success! What that group of people was thinking is anybody’s guess. YIKES! Ken

From Forgotten Hits Reader Dave Barry ... Wearing a glacial-white suit and tie, set off by a blood-orange shirt, the compact, dark-haired vocalist Rick Stevens leaned into "You're Still a Young Man," his signature song as lead vocalist of Tower of Power, when the band burst out of the East Bay funk scene 40 years ago and Stevens had a promising future. But Thursday at Bimbo's 365 Club, when he took the stage at the annual Voices of Latin Rock fundraiser, the song's lyrics collided with his own real-life narrative, and the performance fused into autobiography. "I'm back once again," he sang, his eyes glistening with tears.
Stevens once saw his life flash before him when he almost drowned as a child, but this was different. Blinded by the spotlights, the 72-year-old vocalist said he could make out only a few faces in the front rows. But he could see all the cell phone cameras going off like miniature fireworks. He could feel the love in the room.
Stevens has been out of circulation for quite a long time. Sentenced to death for his part as triggerman in a 1976 triple slaying, basically a drug deal gone bad, Stevens was paroled six months ago. After 36 years behind bars, he emerged to find the world had changed radically.
"I'm still putting the pieces of my life together - I'm still coming to grips with it," he says the day after the Bimbo's gig at a taqueria across the street from his Glen Park BART stop. He lives with his 46-year-old son in Antioch and spends his days taking care of his 96-year-old aunt at her home in San Francisco, getting up at 6 in the morning and commuting to the city.
"Getting to know my kids, my grandkids ..." His voice drifts off. "One thing I do know, I know music."
He can remember Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, anointing him with a touch and shout the night Tower of Power opened for her at the Fillmore West. His recording of "Still a Young Man" was produced by Otis Redding's guitar player, Steve Cropper.
Stevens thinks he was born to sing. His uncle was rhythm and blues star Ivory Joe Hunter, and he started singing when he was 6 years old. Growing up in Beaumont, Texas, "music was always around me," he says, "always in me."
He moved to Oakland when he was 14 and attended Oakland High School. He had been born Don Carlos Stevenson until a couple of North Beach sharpies changed his name and installed his band, Rick and the Ravens, as the new attraction at Broadway nitery the Condor when he was 25.
Stevens left Tower of Power in 1972 after the band's second album, as the East Bay soul outfit was on the cusp of a major popular breakthrough. "It was chaos," he recalls. "Egos, drugs, women. I lost all feeling. I was drained. Plus everybody was strung out. I walked away. They asked me to come back, but it was not the same."
Stevens says he groomed his replacement, Lenny Williams, and corresponded with Williams through his years in prison. He recently had a sentimental reunion in Sacramento with Tower of Power bandleader Emilio Castillo and sat in with a band featuring some of the other Tower alumni in Antioch. He also joined Pete and Sheila Escovedo onstage at Yoshi's last month, and the Escovedos prayed over him.
"I always kept close to my Psalm 51," he says, "and remembered that Moses committed murder and he rose above. Paul used to love to kill people, and he saw the light in prison. I made these people my role models. I patterned my life after them - not that alien lifestyle I was living - and everything changed."
It was an armed confrontation over drug money that quickly got out of hand. Stevens said he squared off against the first victim at his front door. Stevens was holding a gun when he slapped the man, who grabbed the gun, which went off in his face. "It was like he went to sleep," Stevens says. "My eyes went so big." The second victim came at Stevens, and the third died before he could shoot Stevens with his gun. It was over in a minute. Three men were dead and Steven's life was shattered.
"It was all drug induced," he says grimly. "They were loaded. We were loaded. I was doing heroin and cocaine - speedballing. It was sheer madness."
Stevens, who kicked drugs cold turkey in county jail when he was first arrested, told the jury that convicted him that they had done the right thing. "I never expected to have the death penalty overturned," he says. "I had made my peace with my maker."
When the California Supreme Court - Stevens calls them fondly "Diana Ross and the Supremes" - declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional in 1977, he returned to court where the same judge said he was glad not to have to sentence Stevens to death, and instead resentenced him to seven years to life. It took a "pit bull" attorney to finally get him parole. His crime mate had been released in 1995, and another was acquitted, but Stevens had been the gunman.
Music saved him in prison. He played music in the yard and at official prison shows. He even gave occasional performances with other cons outside prison. He went from Vacaville to Folsom, and spent the last 20 years of his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County.
"I refused to be institutionalized," he says. "I was always reaching for that front gate, staying in the fight. I spent a lot of time organizing gospel shows in the chapel. We used whatever was available, an acoustic guitar on the yard, instruments lying around from Arts in Corrections, which doesn't seem to be happening as much anymore, instruments that had been donated to the chapel. ... Patience? I learned a lot about patience, Lord, let me tell you."
His return has been welcomed by his old friends.
Some of his oldest friends held a celebratory dinner during the holidays, including Michael Carabello, founding member of Santana and the only conga player in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose first professional experience was at a long-gone dive out in the Excelsior called the Rock Garden with a group that featured Stevens called the Four of Us.
From his home in Connecticut on the phone, Carabello recalls that first night he showed up, the drummer wanted to chase him off the stage before he could set up his congas, and Stevens told him to let the kid play.
"He's an angel in disguise," Carabello says.
--Joel Selvin Joel Selvin is The San Francisco Chronicle's senior pop music correspondent. E-mail: datebookletters@sfchronicle.comRead more: http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Singer-Rick-Stevens-embraces-2nd-chance-4229673.php#ixzz2Jh6TDiGC

Detroit rock legend Mitch Ryder had a close call over the weekend when he and his wife Megan survived a head-on collision with a suspected drunk driver.
The Detroit News reports Ryder, 67, was returning to his South Lyon home from a concert he played at Callahan's Music Hall in Auburn Hills when the accident took place around midnight.
"We were about a mile and a half from home," said Ryder. "... Detroit nearly lost one of its icons. It was pretty scary."
Ryder told the publication he was driving his Buick Enclave when a pickup truck coming the other direction swerved into Ryder's lane, causing Ryder to veer quickly towards the shoulder of the road. The truck still ran into the driver's side of Ryder's vehicle. Fortunately, the air bags deployed. Ryder's wife was treated for minor injuries and was hospitalized until Sunday evening for observation. A third passenger in Ryder's car was unharmed.
"I saw the headlights going for us and I had a split second to either drive towards oncoming traffic or towards the ditch," he said.
The Oakland County Sherriff's Office said the 21-year-old male truck driver -- who said he bent over to switch the radio dial -- failed road sobriety tests.
Despite the accident Ryder played at a friend's birthday party the following day.
Ryder -- best known for his work with the Detroit Wheels in the '60s and songs such as "Devil With a Blue Dress On" and "Jenny Take a Ride!" -- released his last studio album in 2012 entitled, the Promise.

RIP Paul Tanner.Paul was the last surviving member of Glenn Miller's orchestra, and he played the theremin on some Beach Boys tracks.

David Lewis

Thanks for the Hy Lit article. It was great.

Bill

Quite a few readers asked for a copy of "The Day The Music Died" on February 3rd ... I've still got it if you'd like to read it, too. Just drop me a line at forgottenhits@aol.com and I'll forward it along. (kk)

I looked at a FAQ listing on that site you discussed with Alex Valdez of the Yellow Balloon.

You got it mixed up ... they offer their materials for commercial use only, by production companies (has Alex already hooked up with one of those?), but it's true that the costs of doing these are major ... whoever does release these items is not going to be charging a budget price for them!

-- BOB FRABLE,

Easton, PA

I thought I had made that very clear ... and it is QUITE expensive to "lease" this material. But I also know that, when approached by the artists themselves, they have been known to "bend the rules" a little bit to help an artist get footage for their personal collection, most likely signing a waiver that this material will not be shared with anyone or posted on youTube or anything of that nature. (Let's face it, we live in a different era now where that's really common place ... anybody can post just about anything there ... and unless you employ someone full-time to police it ... which some organizations most certainly do ... you're typically none the wiser. My point was showing him where this stuff was ... he's now left to his own devices to see if he can obtain any of it! But I also wanted to make the point that this material sitting locked up in vault somewhere is doing absolutely NOBODY any good ... it isn't generating ANY income ... and the audience that would most appreciate this material is slowly dwindling ... and that's just a shame. My suggestion was that they start to release some of this material in compilation form ... the "Upbeat" series ... the Lloyd Thaxton series ... etc. At least enable people to view and enjoy these performances again. (kk)

Folks,

Here is a little gem I found! It's the backing track for The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man. I believe it is Roger McGuinn with the Wrecking Crew (not with Hillman, Clark, Crosby, et al). I first heard it on YouTube and it sounded crappy so I got a hold of the original .flac file and converted to .mp3 at 320 kbps.Brad

Yes, Roger McGuinn was the ONLY Byrd on this recording, probably because they needed to get that 12-string guitar sound right. Wouldn't this be a great addition to The Wrecking Crew soundtrack? (kk)

Hi Kent -Have you checked out Billy Hinsche's videos? He sent me a copy of "On The Road with The Beach Boys, 1974" for sending him a copy of Dino, Desi and Billy on Shindig. The Beach Boys video is fantastic!!!! Some really rare stuff here. He did a great job on this. It's The Beach Boys like you have never seen them before. Just wanted to tell you about it.

Yep, we've talked about these videos many times before in Forgotten Hits ... some real behind-the-scenes, fly on the wall type stuff since Billy was out on the road WITH The Beach Boys back then. Definitely worth checking out! (kk)

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We're doing our part to help Keep Yesterday Alive ... thanks to a GREAT list of music fans and contributors from all over the world. Forgotten Hits is Oldies Radio's Best Friend ... it's Radio That You Can Read! We're asking the deejays to dig just a LITTLE bit deeper and push the envelope just a LITTLE bit further and take the time to remember and acknowledge some of those GREAT songs and artists that we all know and love that just don't get played anymore ... the ones that traditional oldies radio has forgotten all about with their short, repetitive play lists. Without your help and support, this great music will continue to disappear and fade away.